Account by child welfare worker in death of 2-year-old differs from his written report

Tariji Gordon

May 7, 2014|By Rene Stutzman, Staff Writer

SANFORD – The child welfare worker who checked on a 2-year-old Sanford child the morning that authorities say she was killed by her abusive mother halted a police interview two weeks later on the advice of his attorney.

That's because what Jonathan Irizarry wrote in case notes – that Tariji Gordon was awake and fine that morning - does not match what he told police – that she was asleep and he did not get much of a look at her, according to investigative records.

Tariji's body was found four days later in a shallow grave in Crescent City. Her mother, Rachel Fryer, 32 of Sanford, is in the Seminole County Jail, charged with first-degree murder.

A medical examiner concluded that Tariji died of a blow to the head but also had suffered several other injuries at various stages of healing.

In a report from a visit the morning Tariji was killed, Irizarry indicated, "children appeared to be free from marks/bruises indicative of abuse/neglect."

How was that possible, investigators with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and Sanford Police Department wanted to know during a Feb. 24 interview.

They also confronted Irizarry with photos of the girl, taken while she was still alive, showing a swollen eye and puffy mouth.

He never saw those injuries, Irizarry said.

Investigators also pressed him about an 11-day gap when he had not seen the children, well beyond the six-day maximum allowed under rules by Community Based Care of Central Florida, a contractor used by the Florida Department of Children and Families to manage abused and neglected children.

"Irizarry said he had no concerns for the safety of the children," according to an FDLE summary of their session.

In his case notes from that day, Irizarry wrote that Tariji was awake, in bed with a brother and sister and that he "spoke to the children and they did not report any concerns."

But he told investigators Tariji never woke up during his visit and that he saw only a few exposed parts of her body: her face, part of one arm and the lower portion of one leg.

When FDLE Agent Andrew Watts pressed him about the inconsistencies, Irizarry's attorney, Eric DuBois, interrupted the session, he and his client conferred then ended the session, saying Irizarry was being accused of violating the law by falsifying a report.

Irizarry has not been interviewed by police since, DuBois said Wednesday.

"The main reason I ended it was I didn't want Mr. Irizarry to become a scapegoat for Ms. Fryer, for the Department" Children and Families, DuBois said.

Irizarry's failure, DuBois said, was not cleaning up a set of computerized notes that had suddenly become evidence in a homicide.

Irizarry has since left that job voluntarily and now works for a different child welfare agency, helping find homes for foster children, DuBois said.

Irizarry had been case manager for Tariji and her brother and sisters since Nov. 7, according to attorney DuBois.

Tariji and her two sisters and brother had been returned to Fryer in November by child welfare officials who had taken them away 2 1/2 years earlier following the death of Tariji's twin brother.

Fryer had smothered that boy by accident, authorities concluded, when she rolled over on him in her sleep. She tested positive for cocaine the next day.